Battle of Starbase 45
The Battle of Starbase 45 was an engagement between Starfleet and the Breen Confederacy during the Dominion War. Prelude In late 2375, the Breen Confederacy launched a surprise attack into the heart of the United Federation of Planets. The Breen force consisted of numerous starships, including one cruiser specially modified for electronic counter measure (ECM) warfare, all under the command of Thot Gor from the Megal Taan. His goal was to strike at Earth and devastate the the Federation capital. However, one of the obstacles in Thot Gor's path was Starbase 45-Keepsake. Main engagement Several hours before the attack, an initial Breen probing force was destroyed by the , under the command of Fleet Admiral Gustan Flaze, and the , under the command of Captain Jan-ji Parks that was at the starbase for resupply. Admiral Flaze, commanding officer of Ktarn Fleet, was hesitant to call for the fleet as it would interrupt the much needed repairs of the fleet's starships and balked at the issue for an hour before finally deciding to mobilize the unit. Thot Gor, who had his fleet masking their energy signatures, decided to engage and destroy Starbase 45 to prevent any warning from reaching his intended target: Earth. After reviewing the reports of the ships destroyed in the screening force, Thot Gor dispatched six Chel Grett cruisers and nineteen Plesh Brek frigates in the initial assault wave, hoping to keep most of his larger vessels in reserve. The Risik and Osprey were joined by the , under the command of Captain Rachel Jackson, which had been on patrol in the area. The three vessels, along with Starbase 45’s formidable defenses, were able to stall the Breen attack force until a number of Ktarn Fleet vessels arrived. Many attempts were made to send a warning to Starfleet Command, but the Breens’ ECM cruiser prevented any messages from being broadcast. Thot Gor, realizing that the element of surprise was quickly being lost, committed the rest of his force to the battle. Moving at high warp and no longer masking their energy signatures, the incoming Breen fleet was quickly picked up by the long range sensors of Starbase 45. After a brief discussion between Admiral Flaze and starbase commander Rear Admiral Blake Forhetz, the decision was made to evacuate the starbase and retreat towards Earth in the hope of outranging the jamming cruiser and warning Starfleet Command. Ktarn Fleet took on all of Starbase 45’s personnel except for Admiral Forhetz, who remained behind to activate the station’s self destruct. The resulting explosion destroyed one of the two Rezreth-class siege destroyers, four Sarr Theln-class battleships, and one Chel Grett-class cruiser. The remaining Breen vessels pursued the retreating Ktarn Fleet, which was only able to move at warp six due to engine damage sustained by several of the fleet’s starships. Admiral Flaze, realizing that the Breen would catch his retreating starships before they would be able to warn Starfleet Command, made a last ditch effort to halt the approaching enemy. Using gravity wells scattered in the path of the predicted Breen advance, Admiral Flaze forced the Breen out of warp and Ktarn Fleet managed to destroy several frigates in the resulting confusion. The Breen, however, had kept in reserve a final piece of technology: energy dampening weapons capable of completely draining ships of their power. Thot Gor quickly rallied his forces and disabled the USS Saratoga. Realizing a dangerous unknown element was at play, Admiral Flaze scattered Ktarn Fleet in an attempt to envelop the enemy force. But it was of little use when faced with a weapon against which the starships had no defense, and the Breen continued to disable and destroy starships. After suffering nearly fifty percent casualties in thirty minutes of fighting, a turning point came when the chief engineer of the USS Galar, Lieutenant Commander Tval, discovered a weakness in the Breen jamming protocols. After a quick modification to the ship's sensors, he enabled Ktarn Fleet to redirect the interference to the Breens’ targeting systems. While the Breen could still operate their weapons manually, it significantly increased the amount of time estimated for a complete victory. Thot Gor decided to disable and ignore the remaining Ktarn Fleet vessels and ordered his ships to press the attack on Earth, while he retreated back to Dominion-controlled space in the last remaining siege destroyer. Aftermath Though the Breen attack on Earth succeeded, killing over two thousand people and dealing massive damage to Starfleet Headquarters and San Francisco in general, the efforts of Ktarn Fleet greatly contributed to reducing the scale of destruction; so few Breen vessels made it past Admiral Flaze’s forces that Earth’s defense grid was able to destroy the Breen ships before a more devastating attack could occur. While the Breen would later publicly claim that they considered the attack a success, sensitive documents recovered from the Breen Confederacy indicated that the leadership was very disappointed that more damage had not been inflicted. Thot Gor was later replaced by Thot Pran. The Battle of Starbase 45 would also mark the last of Ktarn Fleet’s active involvement in the Dominion War. The surviving ships were towed back to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards to complete their repairs. Captain Rectorvos was promoted to rear admiral and was given probationary command of Ktarn Fleet. One of his first acts was to promote his chief engineer, Tval, to commander and make him the executive officer aboard the Galar, replacing the previous executive officer killed in the battle. Fleet Admiral Gustan Flaze was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor, and begrudgingly took a desk job at Starfleet Command till the end of the war in December 2375. Participants The following is a partial list of Federation starships that participated in the battle. Appendices Connections External links References Category:Battles of the Dominion War Category:Conflicts